Rail-joint.



:Non 781,196.

UNITED STATES Patented January 31, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

PERRIN EFPERSON, OF BELT, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR OF TWO-THIRDS TO ARTHURE.CHAMBERLAIN AND FRANK LEWIS, OF BELT, MONTANA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. '781,196,1dated January31, 1905.

V Application filed March l, 1904. Serial No. 195,960.

To all whom it may concern.-

IBe it known that I, PERRIN ErEnRsoN, acitizen of the United States,residing at Belt, in `the county of Cascade and State of Montana,

have invented new and useful Improvements in Rail-Joints, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to railway-rails and means for preventing thesame from becoming laterally displaced or spreading; and it consists,essentially, in constructing a rail in two parts or sections by dividingan ordinary rail upon a longitudinal vertical plane passing through ornear lts center and arranging one part or member wlth a seat to receivethe other part or member, the member having the seat also carrying thebase-flange for both rails and having the' seat terminating atitsgitudinally divided down to and through a' portion of the base-flangeof the ordinary rail structure and forming the inner opposing faces ofthe two members thus produced with` concave recesses extendinglongitudinally thereof to compensate for lateral or transverse expansionand contraction and also to provide the two memberswith bolt openings orholes of oblong shape to allow for longitudinal contraction andexpansion, said bolt-holes being so spaced that any two holes coincidingwill cause the remaining holes in the assembled parts or members of therail to aline, and thus permit the joints between the rail- -sections tobe made where desired and as long as may be necessary without requiringa particular terminal formation of the ends of the.

sections.

In the drawings, Figure l is a sectional perspective view of a portionof a rail embodying the features of the invention. Fig. is a transversevertical section through the rail.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts in both the views. The numeral 1 designates a rail which is d1-vided upon a longitudinal vertical plane pass ing Vthroughor near itscenter to form two L-shapedmembers 2 and 3, the division cut bers. lThemembers 2 and 3 have oblong,

bolt-holes 8 formed at regular intervals therein and so spaced apartthat when any two of the holes are in coincidence the yremaining holesof a like structure will aline, and by this means the two members orL-shaped parts rection, particularly in the formation ofoverlappedgjoints at the terminals of contiguous rail-sections or forother purposes. The inner opposing sides of the members 2 and 3 haveconcave recesses 9formed therein and extending fully throughout thelength thereof.` The .elongated bolt-holes 8, as will be understood,'are adapted to receive suitable coupling or securing bolts 10, and themembers are permitted, throughthe provision of the oblong holes 8, tocreep or shift longitudinally to compensate for lengthwise expansion andcontraction. transverse or side expansion of the rails and preventthelatter from buckling.

Having4 thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new is Arail, divided longitudinally in a vertical plane through the center andpartially through the baSe-iange, the latter being cut in a hori- ZontalVplane fully to the outer'edge of one side thereof to form-a horizontalseat which of the rail may be disposed in relation to each yother asfound desirable in'a longitudinal di- The recesses 9 take up meets thevertical division in a plane at rightr angles to form one'rail memberwith an L- shaped flange which rests on the horizontallyeut portion ofthe ange of the remaining member, the inner opposing sides of bothmembers being formed with concave recesses extending full lengththereof, the Web-sections of the members being Constructed with oblong'bolt-holes so spaced apart from each other that When any two of the saidholes c0- incide the remaining holes will be disposed in alinement.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PERRIN EPPERSON.

Witnesses:

JAMES CHAMBERS, HENRY L. DEs COMBES.

